ao May, 1909.] Wheat Improvement Committee. 277 



A reasonable sufficiencv of humus in order to ameliorate the tem- 

 perature conditions of the soil and to encourage bacterial 

 development ; 



And, above all, to so arrange the rotation that in good soils the soil- 

 fertilitv will be maintained, and in poor ones increased. 



The most important point to be impressed on those who wish to go on 

 the land is the necessity of knowing the conditions that insure success ; 

 then intelligent methods can be put into practice and those of the empiric 

 •abandoned. And, as conditions vary in every district, methods need 

 modifying in order to meet them. Whether the inferioritv of soils ap- 

 parently rich in plant food is due to the excess of poisonous excretions of 

 plant roots, or to the failure to maintain a proper soil-texture, it is ap- 

 parent from practical experience that success will be assured by a proper 

 rotation which includes the building up of the humus-coaitent of a soil 

 when deficient in it. This is especiallv marked in the wheat-growing areas 

 •of this State. In Victoria, unfortunately, owing to- a lack of population, 

 a more diversified system of farming cannot be adopted, except in certain 

 favorable localities ; but the farmer who is able toi profitably carry on 

 mixed farming has a simpler problem before him in maintaining the soil- 

 fertilitv. and, so, the prolificacy of his crops. A rotation must, of neces- 

 sity, include as frequently as possible the standard money crop, provided 

 always that the soil -fertility is maintained ; and, while owing to fluctuating 

 markets, a fixed rotation is not always advisable, the main issue — to keep 

 the soil fertile — should receive paramount consideration. At the Dookie 

 College farm it has been demonstrated practicallv that, if the soil is well 

 prepared, and this is especially true of rising land, peas and rape sown 

 in ^larch and April will thrive and produce payable returns of fodder for 

 sheep and cattle during the winter, and at the same time prepare the soil 

 for producing prolific cereal crops. 



As regards climatic conditions, there are no parts of Victoria where 

 ■wheat will not grow; but in the coastal districts the ravages of rust may 

 prove a bar to its successful development, and in any case the qualitv of 

 the grain would not be equal to that from the North. Still, it seems to 

 "be only a matter of time when rust-resistant varieties will h^ bred, and 

 thus make it possible to grow wheat successfullv in almost everv part of 

 the State. 



InJu'rent Prolificacy of Varieties. — When the soil and climatic condi- 

 tions are favorable, the prolificacy of any gi\en varietv of wheat depends 

 on its inherent qualities. A cursory inspection of the twentv or thirtv 

 thousand varieties of seedlings growing in the College experimental fields 

 impresses this on the most casual observer. What frequently appears some- 

 what unaccountable is the fact that, under most favorable conditions, one 

 wheat may far outdo the yield of another, yet, when the conditions are 

 less favorable, the latter wheat produces a more satisfactorv return than 

 the former. This demonstrates the necessitv of determining the varieties 

 T^est suited for the different parts of the Commonwealth. The conditions 

 •on which depends the prolificacy of a wheat are apparentlv as follows : — 



(a) Well developed root system ; 



(i^) Strong tillering or stooling property ; 



[c] Long ears ; 



[d] Dense or close ears; or an increased number of rows of spikelets per ear; 



[e] Increased number of fertile florets per row of spikelets; 

 (/) Large and heavy grain. 



